In the process of conducting warfare in urban settings it is often desired to employ a weapon that causes limited or no damage to people and/or structures. The arsenal available to a typical fighting force however was designed for all out war and as a consequence was designed to produce the maximum lethality and property damage. Ironically it is the extreme lethality of such weapons that puts the US and Coalition warfighters in the greatest danger in an urban setting. While putting an M1A1 round into an apartment building would definitely quiet a sniper, normal hesitation to create high levels of collateral civilian damage and injury increases the chances of friendly casualties and permits possible escape of the perpetuator.
Urban warfare as encountered in both Iraq and Afghanistan is new to the military and must be fought using a new set of rules and new technology that can meet and overcome both today's and tomorrow's asymmetric threats. What is sorely needed is the capability of returning an overwhelming counter force that gives the warfighter the option of not causing permanent injury or severe property damage in urban settings.
US warfighters, to include such agencies as for example SWAT teams, engaged in combat today require lightweight, modular, versatile, and effective multiple-use systems to meet and overcome the growing and evolving challenges and threat posed by asymmetric warfare. New engagement Doctrine and operational practices which are not cumbersome to the soldier need to be employed. A multiple-use system concept is needed that enables the warfighter to apply an overwhelming, ordnance-free force that can most often avoid the consequences of unwanted collateral damage and casualties.
Today's mines are much more lethal and are designed to overcome conventional mine neutralization methods and techniques. Many modern mines contain a “dash pot” on the trigger that requires application of force for a period of time longer than that of an aerial explosion. This change was made to prevent using aerial bursts and line charges to easily clear a mine field. New methods are needed that can apply a force over such a period of time as to overcome this countermeasure thereby allowing a lane to be cleared by detonating mines a safe distance in front of a convoy.
Equally as insidious as mines are Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The well camouflaged, consistently evolving, and highly lethal IEDs used by terrorists and insurgents alike have accounted for the majority civilian and US/Coalition warfighter casualties in the Middle Eastern Theatre of Operations. New technologies and doctrine to counter evolving threats must be rapidly brought to bear and used as a disrupter against these types of threats.
New technologies are also needed for military perimeter defense purposes and for homeland defense of borders, protection of assets such as dams, airports, power facilities, water treatment plants, etc.
Moreover new technologies are needed to combat underwater threats.